


But I'm Maknae?

by JiminWreckedSugaBias



Series: Maknae Line Hurt/Comfort Fics [33]
Category: Stray Kids (Band), TXT (Korea Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Huening Kai-Centric, Hurt/Comfort, Jeon Jungkook is a Good Hyung, Mother Hen Bang Chan, Protective bts, Self-Esteem Issues, but it gets better, my life is complete with that tag, neglectful hyungs, protective Stray Kids, that was a legit tag?????
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-27 00:50:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21383371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JiminWreckedSugaBias/pseuds/JiminWreckedSugaBias
Summary: Kai was upset to say the least.He hadn't noticed it right away, but now that he had? He realized that it had always been a thing.He realized that his hyungs had always doted on and coddled Beomgyu.But... he was maknae, wasn't he?
Series: Maknae Line Hurt/Comfort Fics [33]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1220564
Comments: 25
Kudos: 636





	But I'm Maknae?

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyyy sorry it took so long for another story!!
> 
> It took me super long to write, and it was hard to find inspiration but I hope you like it!!!

Kai was upset to say the least. 

He hadn't noticed it right away, but now that he had? He realized that it had always been a thing. 

He realized that his hyungs had always doted on and coddled Beomgyu. 

He tried to not let it get to him, really he did. But as time passed and the more he saw the difference in how he and the other boy were treated, it got more and more difficult. 

He let the feeling sit there in his heart, mostly ignored in favor of practicing more (than he should), for a month. 

A full month of watching Beomgyu taking his spot as maknae. 

_ “Beomgyu, the move goes like this, watch.” _

Vs

_ “Kai, stop messing around! We showed you the move before, you should be able to do this!” _

Or sometimes

_ “Soobin hyung, Beomgyu hyung took my game and won't give it back!” _

_ “You should be practicing anyways, Kai, not playing games.” _

To say that their words hurt? 

Understatement. 

He had even puked this morning from the stress of it all. He didn't want to tell anyone in fear of getting told off, but Beomgyu found him and told him to stay home. 

_ “Stay home and rest aegi, I'll tell Soobin hyung that you're unwell and can't practice.” _

The boy left after giving him a kiss on the head. 

It hurt him that the one person treating him like maknae is the one who all his other hyungs are treating like maknae. 

The worst part was that he didn't know what to do. Maybe he could talk to Jungkook hyung and ask him if he ever faced this kind of problem? 

He had seen some of their videos, both fanmade and their own company made ones, and he noticed that Jimin got treated like maknae a lot. 

But he also didn't want to bother his busy hyung. He was decent friends with a couple members from Stray Kids? 

He could maybe talk to Jeongin hyung or Felix hyung? Maybe Seungmin hyung or even get Chan hyung's number to ask for leader advice. 

Chan hyung seemed like the better option. 

He got up from his spot on the couch and got his phone, searching through his contacts. 

If he could just find-

“Kai, why aren't you practicing?” Soobin asked, his presence startling the maknae. 

“Hyung, you scared me.” He said with a laugh, locking his phone and pocketing it. 

“Sorry, didn't mean to,” he told the younger with an apologetic smile that dropped soon after, “but why aren't you practicing?” 

“Beomgyu hyung told me to stay home and rest when he found me throwing up this morning.” Kai told the other in confusion. “I thought he said he would tell you?” 

“We have a live performance approaching, no he didn't, and you look fine now,” Kai felt tears form in his eyes as the leader kept speaking, “go practice, you probably just ate too much last night.”

The truth? Kai hadn't eaten anything last night. 

The realization that his leader didn't even notice his absence at the dinner table made him turn on his heel and sprint out the door, completely ignoring the angry- or was it worried- shouting from his hyung behind him. 

  
  
  


He didn't know where he was going, nor did he know how far he had actually ran by now. 

What he did know? 

He was very far from his dorm and now it was dark. 

He looked around to see if he recognized anything, and his shoulders slumped when he realized that no, he didn't. 

Pulling out his phone, he saw he had several missed calls, several voicemails, and several more texts from all his hyungs. 

He ignored them all and pulled up his contacts list-

“Kai? Is that you?” He knew that voice. 

He lifted his head and looked toward the source of the voice and saw none other than Chan hyung himself, and he also saw Minho hyung as well. 

He didn't know Minho very well, but he was a good listener according to Felix, and apparently protective. 

“Kai?” The maknae jumped as he focused back into reality and saw Chan right in front of him looked concerned. 

Kai blushed sheepishly and suddenly felt smaller than the other despite being a few inches taller. 

“Sorry hyung, I zoned out for a moment.” The concerned look on his hyung's face never left, and Kai also noticed a similar one on Minho's face. 

“What are you doing all the way over here, kid?” Minho sounded very concerned, and it threw Kai off a bit. It was different than his own hyungs had been acting. 

“I…” he didn't know how to answer. 

Does he say he ran away? That his hyungs made him feel like a worthless waste of space and he couldn't take it so he ran? 

“Let's go sit down somewhere warmer.” Chan said, and Kai blushed when the leader wrapped an arm around his waist. 

“Our dorm isn't too far from here,” Minho said with a shrug, “only Felix and Changbin are there right now.” 

As the two's conversation went on, Kai felt his head go a bit fuzzy. Being so young in the industry meant very little time for enjoying being taken care of, because you're taught to take care of yourself. 

That's where the members came in, typically. But not his. Not anymore at least. 

In this moment, these two felt like parents with how they were treating him. 

“Kai, what's wrong hun?” Kai looked to Minho and was a bit confused until the older reached up and wiped away a tear. 

He hadn't even realized he was crying. 

“Just… thinking.” He said. 

“We're almost at our dorm, we can talk there, okay?” Kai nodded at Chan's question. They walked the rest of the way in silence, aside from music from one of their headphones. Blood Sweat and Tears, so it was probably Minho since the boy used to be a backup dancer for the Wings tour. 

“We're here.” Chan said before they took a turn and went up some stairs. Minho got out keys and unlocked the door, stepping in and kicking off his shoes. 

Chan followed soon after and Kai did the same, but extremely awkwardly. 

“Do you want tea?” Minho asked. Kai blushed and stumbled over his words. 

“I don't want to be a bother.” 

Kai regretted his choice of words when he saw Minho's expression change. 

“You aren't a bother, believe me. I was gonna make some for everyone and it can help calm you a bit.” 

Kai gave a sheepish smile. “Um… t-thank you. It would be nice, I appreciate it.” 

Chan was now more concerned than ever as Minho asked the boy another question. Kai was so quiet and timid. 

Minho went into the kitchen, but apparently that was the cue for the other two in the house to come out into the living room. 

“Lix, Bin, why aren't you guys asleep?” Chan asked, concern now shifting to his own members a bit. 

“_ You guys aren't as quiet as you think you are.” _Felix replied in English, proving just how exhausted the boy was. 

“_ Sorry about that.” _Chan said with an apologetic smile.

Felix rubbed his eyes and looked around before he finally saw Kai. 

“Oh, hey. Sorry, I didn't know anyone else was here.” He said, but his Korean sounded a bit forced to Kai. 

“Please don't worry. Um…” Kai looked awkward for a moment, but Felix smiled at him. 

“What is it?”

“_ We can speak English if it's easier for you?” _Felix lit up and Kai noticed Chan hyung looking a bit relieved. 

“_ It gives Binnie a chance to practice too.” _Felix said with a teasing glance at Changbin. 

“_ My English not bad.” _Kai smiled at Changbin's response just as Minho came back with tea. 

“I couldn't carry all of the cups, but I made you and Changbin tea as well.” Felix looked a bit confused but he couldn't say anything before Changbin thanked Minho and dragged the younger Australian to the kitchen. 

Kai was confused about that, but he also knew it wasn't his business. 

Minho handed Kai his tea, which Kai nodded in thanks before taking a small sip and inhaling the calming warmth. 

"Kai, we need to talk about earlier." Chan said with a serious voice. The voice startled Kai a bit, but he heard no irritation or anger, only concern. 

"I- yeah." Kai sighed and looked down. "I know."

Kai could see Changbin and Felix walk back out of the kitchen when Chan started speaking. 

"Kai, it's late at night and you aren't anywhere near Big Hit. Where are your hyungs?" Changbin stopped walking when he heard what Chan had said. 

"You were out there on your own?" He asked. Kai blushed and nodded. 

"My hyungs were at home or at practice." He explained. 

"Why weren't they with you? Certainly they wouldn't have allowed you out on your own?" Chan said, feeling like he was missing something big. 

Kai didn't answer though, the boy simply shrugged and avoided eye contact by taking another sip of his tea. 

"Kai," Changbin said before sitting next to him, "did you get upset and run off?" 

Kai's head turned so quickly that the others in the room were concerned about his neck. The boy's eyes were wide as he looked at Changbin in shock. 

"Kai, what happened?" Chan asked gently, not wanting to frighten the younger. 

Kai didn't answer right away, he just looked at his tea and shifted every few seconds. No one pressured him for the first couple of minutes, they wanted to give him time to gather his thoughts and feel okay to talk about it. 

"I just…" Kai sighed and put his tea on the coffee table before putting his hands in his lap, his fingers fidgeting nervously. 

"_ Kai, it's okay. _" Felix said, and that's what made Kai continue. 

"I've noticed for a while that Beomgyu hyung got coddled and looked after more than me. The hyungs help him more, and then they scold me for messing up the same things they reassure him on." 

He didn't bother looking up, but he heard what sounded like a deep throated growl from Minho, and he heard Felix gasp when Chan finished whispering the English translation to him. 

"Kai, what happened today?" Changbin asked. "You said you've noticed for a while, but what made you run today?" Kai felt tears well up in his eyes. 

"I… this morning, I threw up. I had been so stressed from the hyungs not helping or supporting me, that I got sick. I hadn't wanted to tell anyone, but Beomgyu hyung found me. He said not to worry and to stay home. He'd tell Soobin hyung that I was sick. When Soobin came home, he asked why I wasn't at practice and I told him what Beomgyu hyung said. He…" 

Kai let out a small sob, "he said that I looked fine and that I probably just ate too much last night, but I hadn't. He didn't even notice, he didn't care."

As soon as Kai was done explaining, he let his tears fall and sobs escape his lips. He felt someone sit next to him and pull him into their chest, but he wasn't sure who.

The Stray Kids members let the maknae cry, and cry he did. It took about ten minutes for him to calm down enough for him to sit up and see who had been holding him and sometimes stroking his back when his sobs got harsher. 

"Do you feel a bit better?" Chan asked, rubbing his back again. Kai shrugged. 

"Crying helped, but it still hurts." He said. 

"What didn't he notice?" Minho asked, and Kai looked at him in confusion. 

"You said Soobin didn't notice something, that he didn't care." Chan elaborated, and Kai was about to answer but his stomach decided to do it for him. 

It growled. Loudly. 

Kai braved a glance at Chan and saw the older's understanding yet concerned expression. 

"You didn't eat last night at all, did you?" He asked, though it was clear what the answer was. 

"I was too nauseous. I wasn't even at the table." 

It took a moment for it to click with Chan and Minho, but when it did, Minho's eyes darkened. 

"He didn't even notice you weren't at the table?" Minho asked, his voice clearly tense with anger. 

Chan closed his eyes and thought about his options. 

It was too late for anyone to be out and about without a vehicle, and he didn't want to bother his busy seniors. He could call Namjoon? He knew the leader was awake all the time, so it wouldn't be an issue. 

"Kai, do you want me to call Namjoon?" Chan asked, and the younger seemed to think about it before he nodded. 

"I'll be back." He said before getting up and heading to the hallway to make the call. 

The phone rang twice before he got an answer. 

"Hey Chris." The older answered. 

"Hey, this might seem weird, but don't freak out." He said, wincing at how awkward he sounded. 

"What's up?" Namjoon said, his voice now serious. 

"I have Kai here, Minho and I found him at the park and he was pretty upset. We brought him back here, he drank some tea, and told us why he was out there, but…" Chan paused, thinking about how to continue. 

"Wait, but Beomgyu said Kai was sick?" Chan was now confused. 

"Beomgyu told you he was sick?" 

"Was that not the truth?" Namjoon asked, now sounding frustrated. 

"It was the truth yes, but somehow the message didn't get to Soobin like it was supposed to." Namjoon sighed and Chan could practically see the older rapper run his hand down his face. 

"What happened?" 

"Long story short, his hyungs are treating Beomgyu like maknae and Kai ran off because Soobin told Kai that he was fine to practice even after he puked and that he probably just at too much last night, and he didn't notice Kai wasn't even at the dinner table."

There was a long silence on the older rapper's end. Chan waited patiently for the other to respond. 

"You're telling me they neglected Kai and the kid didn't eat dinner last night, and Soobin didn't even notice?"

"Yeah. From what I gather, Beomgyu was the only one actually treating the kid like maknae. Probably also part of the reason Kai ran off the way he did." 

There was shuffling on the other side of the call, and then a door slam.

"I'm gonna head over to your dorm with Jin hyung and Jungkook. If it isn't too much trouble, try to feed him something light?" 

"We have some salt crackers and soup?" Chan suggested to the older leader. 

"That sounds good. Send me the address of your dorm and we'll be there soon." 

"Will do, thanks hyung." 

They each hung up and Chan went out in the living room. 

“Minho, would you make some soup and get some crackers?” Chan asked. Minho nodded and stood up before making his way back to the kitchen. Chan quickly sent Namjoon the address before turning his attention back to Kai. 

“Namjoon is on his way over with Jin hyung and Jungkook,” Kai looked startled at the news, “they aren’t mad at you, I promise. Namjoon is mad at Soobin for sure, but he’s worried about you.” 

“I never meant to cause trouble.” Kai’s eyes closed and he put his head in his hands, not reacting when the leader put a hand on his back. 

“Kai, none of this is your fault, and you aren’t causing trouble. Soobin and the others should be treating you right. Beomgyu isn’t maknae, you are.” 

They sat in silence for a while, the only noise coming from the kitchen as Minho prepared the snack. Felix was on his phone looking at something with Changbin, and Chan just held the young maknae at his side. 

Kai liked these hyungs, he really did. Part of him wished he could just be apart of this group, but he knew it was impossible. Neither company would ever go with it, and Stray Kids’ motto has always been Eight is Fate. He wouldn’t want to ruin that. 

“Soup and crackers.” Minho said as he sat down a tray containing two bowls of soup and some crackers. Minho put one bowl in front of Felix and the other in front of Kai. The crackers were just piled on a plate for everyone to grab. 

“Thank you, hyung.” Kai said, but taking a cracker and taking a small bite, testing to see if it would be okay with his stomach. 

Kai noticed out of the corner of his eye that Felix was hesitant to actually start eating and that it took some reassuring words from Changbin- in English- to actually get him to eat a cracker. The maknae was slowly starting to piece together a few things, but it wasn’t his business. Felix’s group members seemed to have it handled pretty well. 

The group was silent for a while, the older members seeming to want to give Felix and Kai a chance to eat something before pulling them into conversation. 

“So Kai-”

_ Knock Knock Knock _

All eyes went to the door, which had interrupted Minho, before Chan stood and walked over. 

The door opened to reveal the three members of Bangtan looking equally concerned. 

“Kai!” Jungkook ran in and wrapped his arms around the maknae, pulling him into his lap as soon as he was sitting on the couch. 

It was a strange sight to say the least, since Kai was just a bit taller than Jungkook. However, Kai looked so vulnerable in the older maknae’s lap that it made him look smaller. 

“Thank you for finding him.” Namjoon said to Chan before entering the house, Jin doing the same. 

“It was chance, really.” Chan told them as he closed the door and turned back to the group. 

“I’m gonna give Soobin a piece of my mind.” Jungkook muttered as he held the younger boy a bit closer. Kai was enjoying the affection, snuggling up to his hyung a bit more. 

“All of us are.” Jin said as he leaned against the wall, Namjoon nodding in agreement before turning to Chan.

“Is there anything we can do to repay you?” 

Chan shook his head. "Make sure the kid gets to one of the dorms safe and make sure his members know the damage they did to their maknae." 

Jin smiled at the young leader. "I hear you've got a bit of a reputation as Maknae Rescuer. It suits you." 

Chan blushed and Minho laughed. "Chan hyung is just a mother hen." 

"Join the club." Namjoon and Jin said together, making Jungkook roll his eyes. 

"Kai, do you want to go to our dorm?" Jungkook asked the younger. The maknae thought for a moment before nodding. 

"I don't think I can face Soobin hyung again yet."

"We understand, Aegi. You can stay at our dorm." Jin said as he stood straight and stretched. "We should go, you need dinner and sleep." 

"Yes, hyung." Kai said as he stood, Jungkook doing the same as soon as his lap wasn't occupied. 

"Thank you again for taking care of him." Jin said, bowing to Chan before going a bit closer to the door. 

"It was no problem, like I said. Just make sure Soobin knows not to let this happen again or he'll be hearing from me instead."

Namjoon chuckled. "Noted. Have a nice night."

The three Bangtan members left with Kai, leaving Stray Kids in their dorm to do their own thing. 

Kai was tucked safely between Jungkook and Jin as Namjoon went to the driver's seat and started the car. 

The journey back was only filled with the sound of low music playing. He recognized the song as being a Day6 song, but he wasn't sure which. 

"Kai, how come you didn't call one of us?" Namjoon asked gently as he stopped at a red light. 

"I didn't want to be a bother, I just planned on hanging out at the park for a while." He said, his voice a bit shy as he was still situated his two other hyungs in the back seat. 

"Honey, you wouldn't have been a bother. We would have been able to go and round up your hyungs to give them a good scolding for what they've done." Jin said, putting a hand on the younger's knee. 

"Beomgyu hyung didn't do anything wrong though, he treated me okay, it was just…" Kai faltered as he thought of the right words. 

"It was just what?" Jungkook asked. 

"He didn't see that they were doing anything wrong. He never stopped them, but I don't think he knew they needed to be." 

The older three took a few seconds to register what was said to them. 

"We'll mostly be scolding Soobin and the older ones." Namjoon said, and Kai sighed. 

"Please don't, they might scold me for that too." 

Namjoon flipped his turn signal on and parked on the side of the road before turning back to Kai.

"I need you to be honest with me," he said, and Kai nodded, "do you feel safe to go back to your hyungs?" 

Kai's eyebrows raised. "What? What do you mean safe? I don't think they're going to hurt me, if that's what you mean."

"How much do they scold you?" Jin asked, looking slightly concerned. 

"It isn't that they scold me often, it's that… they scold me for something that they help Beomgyu hyung with." 

Jungkook's arm around the boy tightened a bit. "What do you mean by that?" 

"Like when Beomgyu hyung stole my game, I told Soobin hyung, and he told me that I should be practicing anyways." 

"Anything else like that happen?" Jin asked, almost afraid of the answer.

And he was right to be afraid. 

Kai told them everything, and the next thing he knows he's being dropped off at the Bangtan dorm (which was beautiful, Kai thought) and being forced into cuddles with Jimin and Yoongi while they watched Big Hero 6. 

He barely registered Namjoon, Jin, and Jungkook leave again. 

The three hyungs had a bone to pick with Soobin, and their hoobae group would not be getting off easy. 

When Bangtan finally let Kai go back to his own dorm, he was greeted with hugs, apologies, and a crying Soobin begging for forgiveness. 

"Soobin hyung, what you did hurt." Kai said, and more tears fell down Soobin's cheeks. "But you're still my hyung, and I love you. You haven't done anything that isn't forgivable." 

Soobin's tears were now happy tears that continued as the night progressed and everyone fell asleep in a cuddle puddle on the living room floor. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!!! Did you like this story?? Lemme know!!
> 
> Requests also accepted through comments, I'll get back to you asap!


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